Wreck of 97....

John (and others),
the wreck site is here....It was a curved trestle over a small creek adjacent to the Dan River Mills factory (now demolished). If you have older editions of Google Earth, you can go back a few years before they tore down the buildings and more accurately pinpoint the spot. The mainline roughly followed Oak Street south towards that area, crossed Henry Street, and then curved to the east at the trestle following the river about a half mile or so to where the current line is (this is long before Riverside Dr was put through there, so the topography has changed quite a bit).

Wreck of 97 site

The old mainline grade reached a maximum of 2% near what is currently the northern city limits of Danville, gradually decreasing to about 1% at the trestle. The trestle was basically the bottom of the hill with a 15mph passenger speed restriction on it. The entire line was abandoned in 1935, and very little remains of it today. It branched off the current line above Blairs, went straight south to Witt, and then into Danville proper.

These days, the hill coming south into Danville is pretty mild by comparison. If memory serves, it's about 0.7%. The steep climb climbing out of the Dan River Valley for southbound trains is referred to locally as Cemetery Hill and has been a thorn in the side to many a train dating back to the steam era.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2021 09:27PM by Kevin Gilliam.